We’re so comfortable with social media these days, sometimes we overlook some of the opportunities these platforms and channels offer. Take LinkedIn for example. Your company’s page, your personal profile, and each of your colleagues’ profiles are all opportunities for your business to promote itself — opportunities that few companies make use of. Let’s start with your company page.
Your Company’s LinkedIn Page
You do have a LinkedIn page, right? If not, set one up ASAP. LinkedIn is one of the most popular resources for people researching companies. So, the copy on your LinkedIn page should be written as carefully as any other copy that represents your business. Make it compelling. Make it competitive. Make it distinct. While you do want to keep your messaging consistent across platforms, you should not just copy the content from your website for use on your LinkedIn page. It deserves a treatment all its own. And check your competitors’ pages to be sure your content is significantly different from theirs.
What’s the banner image on your business’s page? The default image that LinkedIn provides? It’s easy, and free, to insert a branded image of your own. Choose a visual for your LinkedIn page as you would for any other marketing effort.
Your Personal LinkedIn Profile
If you’re the owner or senior executive at a company, your LinkedIn profile should not sound like you’re an independent operator or someone who is gunning for a new position. It should indicate that you’re invested in your company. Consider these examples of two different ways the same professional might represent herself:
- I’m a senior executive with a 20-year track record of leading sales teams that bring home business.
- As the Senior Vice President of Sales at Acme Essentials, I lead a team of high-performing individuals who are expert on delivering valuable solutions for our customers.
With the first line, the individual is using the opportunity to advocate for herself. In the second, she’s advocating for her company.
If you own or lead a company, shouldn’t your personal LinkedIn profile be clear about that?
Your Associates’ LinkedIn Profiles
This is a little stickier, but worth discussing . . .
Individuals have every right to represent themselves on LinkedIn the way they want, of course, but your employees’ choices can reflect on you. If you haven’t already done so, take a few minutes to review your key employees’/associates’ profiles. Does the content there reflect well on your company? Are the descriptions of your company appropriate? Are they clear? Is there room for improvement?
The issue is probably most acute in the case of sales representatives. These individuals often have more contact with your clients and prospects than you do. Are the LinkedIn descriptions of their roles appropriate? Is the language working as hard as it could to support sales and your company’s reputation? Taking some time to strengthen and tighten it will not only serve the company, but the salesperson’s efforts as well.
Consider having a company-wide LinkedIn strategy. At the very least, take some time to compose boilerplate language that describes your company and its offerings in the best, most accurate way. Then ask your employees/associates to kindly use this standardized language on their profiles.
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